“Because Tofino is so popular, it definitely has the opportunity to educate visitors, and I think if you can just even change one person’s mind or narrative about who we are, you’re winning. It’s successful.” — Maria Clark
Hospitality can do more than welcome visitors—it can nurture cultural pride and create opportunities for future generations.
At Tin Wis Resort, Maria Clark embodies this mission. As the resort’s Assistant General Manager and a Board Director at Indigenous Tourism BC, she mentors the next generation, champions representation, and pays forward the opportunities that inspired her own journey into tourism.
“I’m really proud to say my front desk managers are Indigenous, and I’m indigenous,” she shares. “I have supervisors that are Indigenous leaders. We’ve built leaders here that are Indigenous.”
Located on a site with profound historical and cultural significance as British Columbia’s last functioning residential school, Tin Wis is part of a long road to healing. Content warning: the conversation includes a brief discussion of the impact of residential schools in the area.
Today, Tin Wis Resort is a site of positive transformation. Newly operated by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and shaped by the community’s needs, it elevates what it means to be Nuu-chah-nulth while making sure culture and heritage shine through in ways that support everyone.
Through this work, Maria shows how hospitality can be a force for connection, understanding, and change. She challenges the tourism industry to take on this responsibility—to prioritize respect, representation, and reconciliation—and to make meaningful contributions that honour the communities it touches.
You’ll also learn:
- Why Tin Wis Resort follows the ?iisaak Pledge.
- Why Indigenous representation is so important in fostering inclusivity within tourism.
- How mentorship and training can open doors for Indigenous communities.
- The responsibility to educate visitors about local culture and environmental issues.
- Why tourism, like other industries, must be accountable for its impact
Subscribe to Travel Beyond through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.
Show notes
?iisaak Pledge —A commitment to practicing respect for the land, culture, and people of Tofino, inspired by the Nuu-chah-nulth teaching.
Indigenous Tourism BC — A non-profit organization dedicated to growing and promoting a sustainable, culturally rich Indigenous tourism industry in British Columbia.
Tin Wis Resort — A Nuu-chah-nulth-owned resort in Tofino that embodies Indigenous hospitality, cultural heritage, and community-centered tourism.
Tourism Tofino — Tofino’s official not-for-profit destination marketing and management organization.
Episode transcript
This transcript was generated using AI and has been lightly reviewed for accuracy.
Maria Clark: I always say that to my team, like, representation is important in our marketing, you know. I don’t only want to see Indigenous people working behind the counter or in the laundry room. I want to see them marketed as our visitors, because they are.
David Archer: Welcome to Travel Beyond. I’m David Archer from Destination Think, recording from Haida Gwaii, the territory of the Haida Nation off the north coast of British Columbia in Canada. On this show, we look at travel’s role in making a better world, and we highlight leading destinations and change makers. Our guests are taking local action that the world can learn from, they’re helping to regenerate ecosystems, communities, and economies, and they’re often making positive change happen from the bottom up.
Many of the voices we’ve highlighted are part of the Destination Think Collective, a peer group of ambitious, forward thinking destinations working toward a better future for travel and the planet. Members represent places like Banff and Lake Louise in Canada, Seattle in the U. S., Copenhagen in Denmark, Queenstown Lakes in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and several others.
Today, we’re back in Tofino. For the last 30 years, the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation has owned the Tin Wis Resort just outside of town. And in the last two years, the nation has taken over the resort’s operations. That transition has given leadership there the opportunity to do things in a new way, which includes, in part, learning to share with visitors and staff what it means to be Nuu chah nulth.
To learn about this, I got to speak with Maria Clark, the Assistant General Manager at Tin Wis Resort. This interview happened at the resort in a large conference room, often used for Tla-o-qui-aht cultural events, and afterwards we all got to walk on the beach a little bit. It’s a really gorgeous setting.
Maria is also on the board of directors at Indigenous Tourism BC. And in this conversation, we spoke about the resort as a place of hope and opportunity for Indigenous folks and others who work there. Mentorship is an important part of Maria’s work too. She received a little guidance when she was younger and is now paying it forward by sometimes serving as a mentor to staff.
She always wants to lift others up to new opportunities and make sure they feel represented. We talked about the bigger picture too and the ways tourism needs to give back to its communities and lead the way in forming stronger relationships across cultures locally. As we begin today, here’s a quick word from Brad Parsell from Tourism Tofino.
Brad Parsell: Hi, I’m Brad Parsell, Executive Director at Tourism Tofino. We’re so proud to sponsor this second season of Travel Beyond based here in Tofino. The podcast has been such a great way to highlight some of the local successes and inspiring examples happening within and around tourism that I hope we can all learn from globally.
Uh, looking beyond Tofino, uh, Destination Think, who’s behind the Travel Beyond podcast, uh, has put together a collective of destinations that Tofino is a part of called the Destination Think Collective. This growing group of very ambitious destinations include places like Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta, Bend in Oregon, Cape Town in South Africa, and Copenhagen in Denmark.
All of us are united about really thinking and caring about the future of travel and the planet. How we can make tourism better, more sustainable, and ultimately regenerative and thriving for generations to come. So I’m excited by that work, and I’m very excited by our guest on the episode today. Maria Clark, who’s become a dear friend of mine in my time in Tofino.
She is, uh, an incredible woman who’s demonstrated so much leadership behind the scenes. And she’s especially passionate about youth and engaging indigenous youth in tourism. Um, and she uses Tin Wis Resort as a, as a really amazing platform to be able to do that. I’m so grateful that we got her for this podcast.
And I think you’re really, really going to love this episode with Maria Clark. So thanks for listening. And I’ll turn it back over to David.
David Archer: Thanks to Brad for that. And as we get started, I just have one more note. As a content warning, partway through this conversation, we talk briefly about the impact of residential schools in the area.
There isn’t anything graphic here, but Maria shares an example of overt racism she’s experienced. So I wanted to give you all a heads up. That being said, the focus of this episode is on the very positive work happening at Tin Wis and led by Maria. Thanks so much for listening, and now here’s my chat with Maria Clark from Tin Wis Resort.
Maria Clark: My name is Maria Clark, uh, my Nuu chah nulth name is Hiawatha, I am the Assistant General Manager here at Tin Wis, I also sit on the Board of Directors for Indigenous Tourism BC.
David Archer: Can you tell me a little about your connection to this area?
Maria Clark: Well, I was born here in Tofino. I am of Tla-o-qui-aht Ancestry.
David Archer: So you grew up in this area?
Maria Clark: Yeah, I grew up, well, I have, um, traveled back and forth from here in the mainland a lot, um, especially in my early childhood. My parents were separated, so I had all of my holidays as an elementary school student in Tofino and lived on the lower mainland, and then I moved home when I started high school and lived with my dad all through high school.
David Archer: So let’s talk a little bit about Tin Wis Resort. Can you tell me about the resort and what it offers guests?
Maria Clark: Yeah, so Tin Wis, Tin Wis just celebrated 30 years.
David Archer: Congratulations.
Maria Clark: Yeah, pretty great. My forefathers decided to open a resort long before anybody else really had the foresight to see Tin Wis or Tofino could be what it is today.
Tin Wis was the first of its kind, in that it has 85 rooms, um, a restaurant on site. We have, uh, well, we now have, um, partnered with, um, Catherine Breweiler and Tofino Paddle Surf. She’s, so she has a shop on property, as well as Jordan, who is going to complete, um, the outdoor sauna on property as well. Yeah, we’re trying to offer.
David Archer: That sounds nice.
Maria Clark: Yeah, trying to offer more and more of an experience. We also have our sister property, Tsawaak, which is an RV and kind of glamping. Yeah, we got to visit there yesterday.
David Archer: Yeah, and so the the resort you mentioned is 30 years old and it’s owned and operated by the Tla-o-qui-aht.
Maria Clark: Yeah, um, yeah, 30 years old, owned and operated by Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations.
It’s nice to say that we were third party managed for a little while, but it’s been two years now of us.
David Archer: Yeah, so that part of it’s recent then, yeah. So, this must be one of the bigger resorts or hotels around.
Maria Clark: It was. It was the, I think it was the largest for a while. But now Pacific Sands has like a hundred, just over a hundred rooms, I believe.
But yeah, definitely one of the largest in Tofino.
David Archer: And, and what are, what kinds of things are there for guests to do? Like I know there’s a beach over that way that I haven’t got to visit yet. But, uh, yeah, what’s, what’s surrounding us here?
Maria Clark: Well, guests usually come for, like, the bear watching, whale watching, fishing trips.
The trails are quite popular in addition to the trail, the, the trails through the park now.
David Archer: The ʔapsčiik t̓ašii. Yes, taking advantage of that trail.
Maria Clark: And then people come now. It’s storm watching season. So everybody’s come. Everybody who’s here has come for that reason, and they got, and it was delivered.
David Archer: Yes, it was delivered, wasn’t it? Yeah, because there was a big storm they were calling the bomb cyclone last week.
Maria Clark: Yes, yeah.
David Archer: So yeah, it was a unique scenario then.
Maria Clark: Mm hmm.
David Archer: Can you tell me a little bit about your journey into hospitality and into, into this resort?
Maria Clark: Definitely. I remember, so I was 12 years old at the Euclid Secondary School, and our, our education coordinator at the time, her name was Roberta Tom.
She would come to the school monthly and she handed it out an allowance and she, you know, would tell us about opportunities in the community and see, engage us in different things. Um, at that point she said that Tin Wis would be opening and that it belonged to Tla-o-qui-aht. Um, so that meant it belonged to all of us, um, members of the nation.
Um, and she asked us if we wanted to do anything there. And basically she just said like, uh, you can do whatever you want there. And she talked about managing different uh, departments or the resort in itself. And I think the child in me thought like okay, maybe I can.
David Archer: Was this a person that you knew from the community?
Maria Clark: Yeah. Yeah. So she worked for the nation and she’s a member of our community. She worked, she actually worked here for a long time too. But at the time and at that time, she was our education coordinator. So she kind of inspired me to think about that. And I guess at that point, I knew I would have some sort of career in tourism.
And then I, because you’re in high school, you get after school jobs, I worked in different hotels and different restaurants.
David Archer: All in this area?
Maria Clark: Mm hmm. Yeah. Including Tin Wis, so. Okay. That was all of twenty, um, twenty five years ago. Okay. Twenty six years ago. Yeah, I started in the restaurant. Okay.
David Archer: Yeah, so you got, you got some inspiration as a youngster.
When did you begin your, how long have you been in, at the resort? This time?
Maria Clark: Yeah, this time. Uh, this time I’ve been, I will celebrate fifteen years in June.
David Archer: Amazing.
Maria Clark: Yeah.
David Archer: Great. And how did you start in the resort or what, what was your role?
Maria Clark: I moved, well, when I moved home, um, in 2010, I was going to hand out a bunch of resumes in different places.
I went to, I only came here. Actually, it was the first resume I dropped off and they called me back before I even got into Tofino. So I came back for an interview. I started at the front desk that time as an agent and then the night auditor and I did each of those for a couple of years and then I did, uh, I managed housekeeping.
And then I managed front desk, and then I kind of became the operational manager I did. I managed the front desk, housekeeping, and maintenance.
David Archer: Wow. So it sounds like your career has touched every part of hospitality a little bit. Like you said, restaurants before, and then housekeeping, and customer service, and all that. Maintenance too.
Maria Clark: Yeah.
David Archer: And what’s your role today?
Maria Clark: Today I’m the assistant general manager. Myself and Jared share the role, and we do a rotational shift, seven days on, seven days off. We just take turns managing the property, and then we, we share a lot of roles. I would say mine more frequently is um, I’m still kind of operational.
I still am on the floor quite a bit. I mentor the managers, train employees. I will step in anywhere really if, if they’re short staffed and give a hand.
David Archer: Well, tell me about some of the people that you work with. Are there a lot of your staff from the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation as well or other Indigenous communities?
Maria Clark: Yeah, we have employees from all of the New Tlingit Nations. Typically more so a Hauzit. Tla-o-qui-aht, Ucluelet, really the surrounding nations in the summertime, we double in staff. Yeah, you’ll see a larger scope. We typically average about six, well, we were averaging about 65 percent um, Indigenous post COVID.
It’s kind of changed a little bit. A lot of people decided to do other things, not, not work so directly within the you know, front line hospitality setting. It was pretty stressful then. So
David Archer: Yeah, I imagine. How do you think that the Tla-o-qui-aht ownership and management affects how business is done here in your experience compared to other places.
Maria Clark: I from what I gather, I think that we take Nuu-chah-nulth people or Tla-o-qui-aht myself as a manager was is like you need to build stronger relationships with people your co workers and your employees. There’s a lot of different things that we take into consideration. The way that the community operates and, uh, when there are events or different things happening, um, we have, we really base a lot of schedules and, um, where people might work, um, and departments and different things based on lifestyles, um.
Like even myself, for example, like I have an intergenerational home. Uh, that’s a, that’s a priority here. Family is the priority. Um, so we always say like, okay, you know, we can adjust quite easily when that’s kind of your core.
David Archer: Yeah, everyone has that sort of understanding what’s going on in the community and who needs what.
Yeah. How about some of the younger people coming into the hotel? Um, I imagine you’re in a management role. Do you find that you are able to kind of bring people up and along kind of the way you were as well?
Maria Clark: Yeah, I joke and I’m always saying like somebody needs to take my job. So my goal is to to help, uh, build up anybody who wants to move, move up or forward in their kind of, if they have career goals in tourism or in anything, honestly, um, even just management, right, like having skills to manage, um, giving them opportunities.
A lot of times we will see Nuu-chah-nulth people work here and, and we will train them up and we do cross train them in different departments just so that they have a larger scope of tools to kind of get them through. And so. It’s bittersweet, right? Right. You give people the tools to kind of move up and they find opportunities in other places or in their home communities.
Giving them supervisorial skills makes them more employable. Um, yeah. Some people have moved on because they got jobs in their home community, which is great. Sometimes it just gives them another opportunity. We had a young man who was a supervisor here for a few years who got an apprenticeship in a job that pays very, very well having had three, four years of experience as a supervisor.
David Archer: Great.
Maria Clark: Yeah.
David Archer: How does that make you feel seeing staff go on to other places?
Maria Clark: Well, I’m happy, I’m happy for them always. Like that’s, that’s what I want, that’s what I want to see, right? I want to see people from my community strive always. So it’s kind of always the goal.
David Archer: Oh, that’s wonderful. Does the Tin Wis Resort play a role in helping to show visitors what the Nuu-chah-nulth people are like or what the culture is?
Maria Clark: I think we, we do have a part, a significant part, in being able to show or educate visitors. Definitely, uh, change some narratives and introduce and educate about our history, um, our lands, our traditions. More so now, I think, uh, having the resort be Tla-o-qui-aht-operated, definitely changes the ability to do things in a different way.
We’ve been working on it for the last two years. It’s first developing a culture within the property, and then being able to educate even just our employees on who we, like, because we have a lot of transient employees and visitors, uh, that, uh, visiting on working visas. We we have to take an opportunity to, to kind of educate them first, because they’re going to be on property representing us as well.
David Archer: And so it sounds like this is kind of a renewed or a new effort for you to be a part of in the last couple of years. Are there any, um, aside from, you know, educating within the organization, are there any examples you can share of, you mentioned changing the narrative, um, are there any myths that you bust for visitors that come here?
Maria Clark: There are. I think, like, it’s unfortunate. I really, it’s unfortunate because visitors come and they, I don’t know, I don’t understand how it’s missed or, but like the idea that Indigenous people don’t like to work, you know and then to be able to say like look you straight in the face and say that, right? Like how do you get them to work?
David Archer: That can’t feel good.
Maria Clark: No, those kinds of things and it’s become less and less over the years. It’s still there, and it’s quite a, you realize you have to educate people because that can’t, that can’t be the narrative. Right. Like.
David Archer: Absolutely.
Maria Clark: Yeah, that can’t be the narrative always. So, or like, the idea that there’s something positive in that this was a residential school. And saying that to, to an Indigenous person, like, this used to be a residential school. And like, really thinking it’s something that was probably good for us. Right? Like, believing that. So. Yeah, you, it’s hard not to be angry when you’re, when somebody approaches you like that.
And then, how do you teach some, how do you teach your employees not to react in a way that might be full of anger or hurt and, and instead try to educate people?
David Archer: Well, yeah, it would be understandable to have a reaction. Yeah. That’s something you work through with your team members?
Maria Clark: Yeah, now. I can tell you, if I’m honest, for a long time, it felt, it felt very lonely in that, uh, because, I mean, you have to have peers who can understand what the situation is or what that feels like, and, and for a long time, I don’t think we did, but, you know, like, I, I’m really proud to say, like, my, my front desk, um, managers are Indigenous, and I’m Indigenous, um, my, I have supervisors that are Indigenous, like, leaders, you know, we’ve built leaders here, so that helps to fill the gap or build the bridge.
David Archer: Yeah. You can kind of empower each other through what you’re learning together.
Maria Clark: Yeah, and hold each other up. Stuff like that, so I think that’s really great.
David Archer: Do you feel like a bit of a mentor to some of the staff here?
Maria Clark: I know that I do mentor our staff. I think that’s part of my responsibility. But I’ve realized more recently that it’s important.
Because I was told there was a, a stakeholder report done for British Columbia, and um, of 500 stakeholders of Indigenous owned businesses in the accommodation sector, I’m the only one with an executive title. So, when I’m traveling around, I see a lot of people, a lot of Indigenous people, and I go to these conferences and, and young women will come up to me and say, I’m so happy to see you standing up there and talking, and it’s, and it’s so nice to see somebody who looks like me and talks like me.
I feel represented, and being on stage or being in front of a camera is probably the most uncomfortable thing for me to do. Well, for making an exception today. But knowing that, after hearing that, I realized, like, it’s important. I always say that to my team, like, representation is important. So, in our marketing, you know, I don’t only want to see Indigenous people working behind the counter or in the laundry room.
I want to see them, uh, marketed as our visitors. Yeah. Because they are. Yeah, so, I, I think more and more we just have to consciously take those, take those steps. So that people realize we’re alive and thriving.
David Archer: Yeah, this is a living culture and community. Backing up a minute, you mentioned that, um, this location was a residential school. Um, did you want to say anything about that history here and how it’s affected Tofino?
Maria Clark: Honestly, I think that it’s a it being a residential, Tin Wis being a former residential school, the damage caused from residential schools is still very present. Families are still struggling quite significantly. Um, so, I think, um, um, at least in Indigenous communities, I can say it’s a long road.
It’s gonna be, it’s a, it feels like a very, very long road to healing. Uh, part of being here at Tin Wis and, and making changes and creating this beautiful resort, um, and something, you know, that we can really be proud of, I, I think is, um, significant in that it heals, it will heal, it heals us in different ways economically, it definitely, well because Tofino is so popular, it, it definitely has, uh, the opportunity to educate, uh, visitors, and I think if you can just even change one person’s mind or narrative about who we are, like, you’re winning.
It’s successful. Yeah. Right? Yeah, I say it, I say it a lot. I think, I like the idea that Tin Wis is kind of creating, um, its own legacy in that it was some, there was, it was used for something very terrible. But it’s, it’s transformed into something very beautiful.
David Archer: Thanks for sharing that.
Maria Clark: Mm hmm.
David Archer: How important is it for tourism to play a role in bridging the divide or, or, you know, making progress toward reconciliation?
Maria Clark: I, I think about this a lot. Um, tourism is like the only industry that’s not mandated to give back to the communities it affects. So if you think about it, like, in industries that are like devastating communities, you know, and they’re, they, they are held responsible. I think, likewise, tourism should be held responsible.
And it should have a role in its community’s success. So I think, and you’ve probably heard it before, trying to use tourism for good. Trying to use tourism to educate. I think that is so vital. Right? It’s a, it’s a huge industry. Six hundred billion dollars and, or six hundred million dollars. And, uh, the people of this land don’t even see ten percent of it.
David Archer: Yeah. So there’s a big economic reconciliation that needs to happen.
Maria Clark: Yes. And it’s just, it’s like working towards that can kind of feel overwhelming. But, um, if we all like sit back and, and assume some responsibility for our roles and. In our communities, I think we definitely can start making change, uh, and that’s what I think, uh, you know, some people really, the leaders in our community are trying to do.
You know, I watch them work diligently creating change for us. So, I gotta do, I feel like we all gotta do our part.
David Archer: Yeah. Are there any specific examples that make you feel hopeful?
Maria Clark: Well, I watch, you know, tribal parks and the work that they do. Um, and I think, Like, that’s something very relevant and powerful for such a small, uh, nation, Tla-o-qui-aht, for, for Tla-o-qui-aht, Tla-o-qui-aht to be quite a small nation in pop, population, um, to be taking such large, large strides, um, that other nations are saying, you know what, we need to do. We need to do stuff like that. How do we get involved with programs like that?
David Archer: So there’s a potential to replicate in other, other nations and other places. Yeah.
Maria Clark: And I see it already happening in just like two years, last couple of years, like other nations really working towards following suit, um, along with like organizations also.
Noticing that, like, this is, like, how do we support, and, and, you know, building allyships, not just here locally, but, like, even in the province.
David Archer: Okay, are you seeing some of that through your work with Indigenous Tourism BC?
Maria Clark: Yes, yes, definitely. And, um, Indigenous Tourism BC works really hard to, to build those relationships, allyships, and they work quite diligently.
Even just to now to help stakeholders in this province be successful with Indigenous tourism.
David Archer: Share what works, share solutions around.
Maria Clark: And just like help build capacity. It’s the fastest growing industry, Indigenous tourism in our province right now. I mean it will be very significant and I believe very very successful.
David Archer: Let’s talk about the environment a little bit. Are you concerned with how climate change is affecting Tofino?
Maria Clark: Yeah, I think, I mean, everybody. Tofino is a very responsible village, right? I think, uh, we do as a community a lot of work to take, take on environmental issues, protection. I mean, there’s always more to be done, but I think wholly we, we, we are trying very, very hard to, uh, be responsible.
David Archer: Is that part of the mission at Tin Wis Resort as well?
Maria Clark: Yeah, Tin Wis, well, we are uh, based, most, like, based on the ʔiisaak, um, pledge.
David Archer: That’s the respect, right? Yes.
Maria Clark: Yeah. So that has to be, that is part, the first part of our, our own 10 year plan. It works through all, it doesn’t just, it works through the entire property from, from top to bottom.
Every department, all of the managers, right? Okay. Taking, taking those. Uh, that very seriously. Trying to, trying to create that as a, as part of the culture. It’s strange, I mean there’s like, it’s like you’re intertwining cultures, right? Like there’s Indigenous culture and a non Indigenous culture. Yeah. And um, in business.
It’s like, it’s intertwinable for sure. There’s so much learning and so much change and people kind of, people are uncomfortable when they have, when they don’t know.
David Archer: Well, and the ʔiisaak Pledge is available to visitors as well, right? So it’s kind of like everyone’s being educated, hopefully with the same sort of ethos about how to treat, you know.
Maria Clark: I would like to see that on the screen of every hotel room when they check in. Or, you know, you hear it in the airport when you land. Played in the restaurants on some of their TVs. I mean, that, that is a goal. Yeah, okay, making it more visible. Yeah, yeah.
David Archer: Thinking about tourism’s relationship with Tofino, um, and with Indigenous nations, do you think that destination management organizations should collaborate with Indigenous nations?
Maria Clark: I do. I believe that they should, um, I think it would be beneficial for, for both kind of agencies. Um, I will say, honestly, I didn’t recognize the potentials that we would have if we partnered more recently.
We didn’t have relationships. So they’re fairly new, but I would say that they’re, um, even just ours with like Tofino Tourism. Tim was his relationship with Tofino Tourism in the last couple of years has been established. And I think it’s, I mean, now I can’t imagine. Not having that, those supports. What’s nice is that they’ve become available.
David Archer: So we’re kind of at the beginning stages of a relationship that’ll hopefully blossom into something. Great into the future.
Maria Clark: Yeah. And it is again, um, even with, um, Indigenous Tourism BC, they work very closely with the larger agencies. I think overall, uh, you’ll feel a sense.
You really get a sense of that. The more you work with them, like that is one thing I will say about the tourism industry is that it’s more welcoming than other industries of Indigenous people and Indigenous business.
David Archer: Yeah. Well, part of the, part of the appeal is travel is. of travel is learning about other people and places, right?
Maria Clark: And now Indigenous people have more opportunity to be able to tell their, tell the stories from their own narratives, creating those spaces to make sure it’s
David Archer: Do you think Tofino should be a leader in that space, in terms of how tourism can assist with these relationships?
Maria Clark: I think Tofino can be a leader in it, and I’m surprised that they are not.
I think it’s a work in progress. Um, you would think that in because Tofino is so popular, that it would be the forefront of a destination this size, um, considering how many Indigenous people surround this tiny area.
David Archer: Yeah, there are many nations.
Maria Clark: Yes. Many nations, um, different dialects, different histories, a lot of culture.
There’s a lot of opportunities here, so, you know, we’ll get there. Definitely. And more and more you see, you know, different Nations doing, opening up businesses and tourism and operating and being very successful. So, I mean, I bet there’s just more to come.
David Archer: If we zoom out in time a little bit, what would you like Tofino to be like in 50 years?
Maria Clark: In 50 years, I would, I would hope that I would like it to be still very similar with some I would like to see a Nuu-chah-nulth school in my community, even. I would like to see Nuu-chah-nulth people be more successful, have more of a physical presence in the village.
David Archer: Would that have to do with things like signage and culture on the display?
Maria Clark: Signage, business, being business owners, having land of their own. Being successful overall. Yeah, and I think, like, I know that in elementary school they do teach Nuu-chah-nulth, but imagine, like, my children went to school where they learned Nuu-chah-nulth all morning and then regular school in the afternoon, regular curriculum in the afternoon.
David Archer: Kind of like an immersion program. Yeah. Yeah.
Maria Clark: Yeah, that kind of vibrant existence, right? Um, so that we can carry on our, our traditions. I’d like to see an institute, uh, where, where our people are learning how to carve, and paint, and practice, you know, our language, our culture, um, songs. All of those things thriving here.
When I see it, I think about that, like, we should be so fully immersed in this community. That it’s everywhere, without question, yeah.
David Archer: Is there any piece of advice that you would like to share that you’ve learned from your mentors or previous generations that people in tourism, or even visiting here, might gain something from?
Maria Clark: One thing I, uh, learned a lot was if it takes, if all it takes is some hard work, we can do it. Right? If that’s all it takes, it’s accomplishable. And the other part of that is you’re going to face diversity, and racism, and different kinds of downfalls in people, like everywhere you go. But, Nuu chah nulth people get called resilient a lot. And, uh
David Archer: Do you have feelings about that?
Maria Clark: Yeah. I did for a long time. I was very angry at the word resilient.
David Archer: Yeah.
Maria Clark: Because, it took me a long time to recognize that. I’m mad at it because I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t ask to be resilient.
David Archer: Like, why should you need to be resilient?
Maria Clark: Yeah. You know, you look at the survivors, the great grandmothers who survived residential school and like, they didn’t ask to be resilient.
So you’re angry about that. But you go to a place in Hueyit, they have, um, pardon me the names this gave me, the trail out there to their ancient village site. You can take a tour out to their village site. Where longhouse poles are still standing or there’s still an entryway to, to what was a longhouse and you hear their history and you stand in that magnificence and you realize we are resilient.
If that was standing 5, 000 years ago, fully functional village site and a, and a whole community living in abundance and there we stand, uh, looking at those, those poles today and understand just what, what our communities have lived through then then resilience doesn’t feel like such a bad word anymore
David Archer: Yeah, thank you so much for talking with us today
This has been Travel Beyond presented by Destination Think, and you just heard from Maria Clark at Tin Wis Resort in Tofino. For more resources and show notes, visit our website at DestinationThink. com. This episode was hosted, produced, and has theme music composed by me, David Archer, Sarah Raymond de Booy is my co producer, Lindsay Payne, Jamie Sterling, and Cory Price provided production support.
We’d like to thank Tourism Tofino for sponsoring this season of Travel Beyond and for being a member of the Destination Think Collective, which is a growing group of very ambitious destinations that care about the future of travel and the planet. If you’re interested in learning more about that or joining, you can send us a note through the contact form on our website.
And if you like what you hear, please take a moment to give us a 5 star rating to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with more next week.
0 Comments